(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The OPEC oil producers' cartel has decided to keep the "same" output target of 30 million barrels per day, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Friday.
"The ceiling is the same. You will be surprised how amicable the meeting was," Naimi told reporters after the gathering of the 12-nation cartel that pumps one third of the world's oil.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pursuing its plan to maintain market share and pressure high-cost US shale producers.
The decision leaves OPEC's official collective target at a level where it has stood for more than three and a half years.
However, OPEC - which comprises nations from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East - is actually pumping 31.2 million bpd, due to increased supplies from Saudi and Iraq, according to International Energy Agency estimates.
OPEC, which has traditionally defended price levels, switched strategy last November when it opted to leave output unchanged - despite a dramatic oil price collapse that slashed revenues for its members.
In response to Friday's decision, oil prices rebounded slightly, erasing earlier losses, in a move some analysts attributed to earlier speculation of a possible output hike.
Brent oil for delivery in July gained 33 cents to $62.36 per barrel in early afternoon London deals, while New York's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the same month won 24 cents to $58.24.
Ministers however declared this week they would be happier with prices between $75 and $80 a barrel to boost revenues and help balance their budgets.
Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq and Venezuela have all appealed for higher prices that encourage investment.
The global oil market, plagued with demand worries, oversupply and booming US shale output, collapsed 60 percent between June 2014 - when WTI crude stood at about $106 per barrel - and late January, when it hit a six-year low under $45.
Losses accelerated in November after OPEC's change in policy, but analysts say the strategy has paid off as US shale oil producers have been squeezed and crude has recovered somewhat in recent months.
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